Steve Rothman: “Today, with the Bulletproof Vest Partnership Grant Act, Congress is taking a major step forward in protecting the safety…”

“Today, with the Bulletproof Vest Partnership Grant Act, Congress is taking a major step forward in protecting the safety of our law enforcement officers. Bulletproof vests should become standard issue for every police officer in America. By paying half the cost of the vests for our police and corrections officers, the Federal Government will help save the lives of the people we ask to protect us. What do we ask from them? We ask from them a lot. Whether it is pulling over a speeding car, responding to a domestic violence call or walking a beat, our officers can be confronted by an armed assailant at any time. They can be just as soon shot in the head as being said hello to on the highway. If we are asking them to protect us, then we must give them the best protection available. As has been said many times before, our law enforcement officers represent the thin blue line separating civilized society and the good and decent, law-abiding citizens from anarchy and the law of the jungle.”